Hat-felting machine



l 5 Ei.:Anwnmmwwhhid ...1J/v v M (No Model.)

R.. BRAKE.

HAT PELTING MACHINE.

JNO. 270,292. Patented Ja.

fwwmw. 75. 21M,

Mega wwf- UNITED i STATES PATENT t OFFICE.

ROBER'I` DWRAKE, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

HAT-FELTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,29?, dated January 9, 1883.

Application tiled June 1T, 1882.

To all lwhom tt may concern:

Beit known that I, ROBERT DRAKE, a eitizen of the United States, residing in the city elevation of a machine constructed with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a front view of the same, and Fig. 4is alongitudinalseetionthereof. Figisatransverse section of the presser and bed, showing the application of the same to the ordinary roll of hat-telts. o

A is an iron frame, formed with a fulcrum, B, at the top for the presser C, and with a fulcrum, E, at the bottom for the treadle F.

Dis the bed, constructed of wooden slats supported by a cast-iron plate, D', having ribs or flanges d formed around its edges to retain the bed D in place. T is the tank. The plate D is provided with farms G, extending from its rear edge to the fulctum-rod EI, the latter being secured across the rear of the frame A by brackets I, which also carry at their farther extremities the driving-shaft J.

K are drlving-pulleys applied to the shaft, and L are cranks secured to the opposite ends of the shaft upon the same side of its axis.

The presser 0 is pivoted to the t'ulcrum B by radial arms c, and a pin, c, is secured between the arms at each side to receive a connection,

f, which is pinned atitsi'arther end to the crank L. The rotation of the cranks thus oscillates the presser back and forth above the bed, and as the fulcrum B is stationary the hed itselt'is made adjustable to and from the presser, so as to vary the pressure of the latter upon theV feits. To effect such a movement and produce any degree ot' pressure at pleasure, I pivot a lever, t', at each side of the tank at the front, ex-

(No model.)

tending them along the ends ot'aplank,l?, se-

cured to the front edge of the tank. Each lever is provided with an adjustable weight, j, and is connected` by a lilik, l, to the front partv of the bed, the plate D being provided with pins@ for such purpose. The weights are secured in place by set-screws n, and operate to press the bed upward against the presserV with the desired force. The links L are extended downward until they meet the leversj" of the trcadle F, to which they are pivoted by bolts. A downward pressure upon the treadle acts in opposition to the weights j, and serves to lowerthe bed when required to introduce or remove the roll of-felts a.

It will be observed iu Figs. l and 4 that the curved surfaces of the hed and presser are not parallel, and that in the latter figure, wherein the bed is shown depressed for the removal of a felt-roll, the divergence of the surfaces is greater than in Fig. 1. rlhis adjustmentofthe bed is produced by the use of a pivoted support, as at H, and can be varied at pleasure 'by raising or lowering the fulcrum-rod in the slots lt in the brackets l. The object of this construction is to effectan 'alternate light and easy pressure upon the feltroll, as is customary in sizing abundleof hatsbyhand,in which operation the workman leans forward and throws weight upon the palms of his hands as he rolls the f'elts from him, but lifts ola great part ofthe pressure' upon the backward move ment to permit the felts to change their position slightly in the roll. This movement has always been considered very advantageous, and is secured in my machine by the forma. tion of a tapering channel, as shown in Figs. l and 4, in which the felts are rolled back and forth, being pressed harder and harder as they Vapproach the rear ot' the bed, and unrolling or expanding slightly as they roll toward the front.

The location of the fulcrum H in the rear and a little above the level of the bed alsp causes the bed to incline toward the front as IOC Y it equably, as shown in the transverseSectionVV h, in which it may be clamped by nut-s n; or the arms G may be made separate from the plate D and extended beneath it, so that the latter may be secured to the arms at any desired angle by means of slotted lugs o, as shown in Figr4.- p

To secure an equal pressure upon the conveX body of an ordinary hat-felt roll I make both presserGand bed Dconcavetransversely upon theiropposed faces, thus forming a cavity exactly adapted to t the roll and press upon of the bed and presser in Fig. 5. This construction secures a more efficient operation of the presser upon the felt-roll, and facilitates Ithe completion of the feltiug` operation, as in the case ot' rollers made concave for a like purpose.

'lhe bed and presser may be made smooth, as shown in Figs. l and 5,or ribbed with wood or india-rubber strips, as shown in 1551.4. As such strips are common in all kinds of feltingmachines, I do not claim the same herein, nor the rubbing of hat-felts between a convex presser and concave bed of the kind herein de scribed.

I am aware that such means of pressing and rolling hat-felts have been usrd before, and have been provided with mechanism for ad- 23 justing the bed or presser. I do not, therefore,

claim the same broad] v; but, having devised the special means herein shown for improving the operation of those parts heretofore known, 1 have claimed the same as new.

In the machines heretofore devised with a rocking presseras No. 78,863, of July 14, 1868; No, 111,935, of February 21, 1671; No. 15,627, of August 26,1S56;No.104,424,0fJune .21, 1870, and others--the bed and presser were used in some adjustable manner, and I therefore disclaim such patents entirely, and all features they may possess in common with mine, my invention and claims relating solely to the new attachments I have devised for facilitating` the use ofthe parts already known.

I am also aware that it is not new to use concave surfaces for operating upon the con` vex body of a roll of hat-felts, as the same is shown in a different form of mechanismfrom mine in United States Patents No. 249,440, and Reissue No. 9,683, and I do not therefore claim the same, except so far as the combination of such surfaces with the curved bed D and presser C isnew, in the same sense that any new combination may contain an element previously known'or claimed'.

By the use of the adjustable weights 7c th pressure upon the hat-felts may be varied in any desired degree, and the machine is thus perfectly suitedY to do the light-estkind of workas the hardening of new felts-and the harder operationsas scaldiug andsecond'sizing.

I therefore claim my invention for any of these purposes in the following manner:

1. Incombination with the oscillating presser (1, the bed D, supported' by pivoted arms G and weighted levers ij, and suitable mechanism-as frame A and crank-shaft and cranks J L-for operating the presser, substantially as shown and described.

2. The means for operating the bed D under the presser Gin the mannerdescribed, consisting ofthe arms G,'pivoted t0 the frame of the machine, the weighted levers ij, and the, treadle F, levers f, and links Z, the whole arranged and connected substantially as shown and described.

1 3. Thecombinationof theoscillating presser C, concaved transversely, with the bed D, pivoted by arms to the frame, as described, and concaved transversely, as well as in the direction of the pressers motion, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. Thecombinatiomwiththevibratingpresser C, of the bed I), havingarms G, supported upon -pivots H, the latter being adjust-ably mounted, as in slots h h., as and for the pur pose set forth. f

In testimony whereof I havehereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT BRAKE.

Witnesses:

THos. S. CRANE, W. F. D. CRANE. 

